48 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

Here's my theory for why this happened:

Alan was no longer on the canvas, Phillip was reunited with Beth, so the obvious contender to take Alan's place as the Spaulding manipulator was AM.

Before, he was used by Harley (up to a point) and Blake. Later, he manipulated Eleni into marriage, which was a classic Alan type of thing to do.

Now I'm realizing why I despised that story so much, because AM was a sweet guy in the beginning. They should have emphasized his Bauer lineage instead. Pulled in one direction by the shiny things on the Spaulding side, pulled the other way by Bauer values. 

So yeah, they changed the character, and IMO, they shouldn't have.

I am positive that's why.  Even Phillip wasn't around. Too many vacuums. 

Plus, I really loved the Alan-Michael character at that time.  His relationships with Harley and Blake made sense. He was very handsome yet approachable. 

Edited August 4Aug 4 by MLH

I know this isn't GL related, but we've had a lot of discourse about her...

Jill Farren Phelps is joining Y&R as producer. 

Comments on X pretty much amount to: "Show killer!" 😂

2 minutes ago, MLH said:

I am positive that's why.  Even Phillip wasn't around. Too many vacuums. 

Which begs the question, why didn't they bring back Alan sooner? (And hopefully, with a better actor than RR).

Thank you, MLH.  Appreciate that.  I'm gonna disagree with you on Hart; I liked him.  As someone here said, Hart could've been killed off once Phillips left.

A-M is a trickier proposition no matter which way you look at it.  Yes, Alan-Michael's persona changed between Evans and Hearst, but imo it's not unreasonable given the circumstances.  You have A-M getting played by Blake and somewhat by Harley in the divorce.  Meanwhile, no one on the Bauer side is looking out for him.  Maureen and Ed are not Mom and Dad, so it makes sense that A-M would not spend a lot of time at the Bauer's.  Not many people spend a great deal of time with their aunts and uncles. 

It was A-M's more or less rudderless status at both the Bauers and Spauldings that prompted me to think of having Ed marry Amanda.  With a half-sister at the Bauer's and Alan returning to Spaulding, A-M might surprisingly find himself in familial demand rather always be left on the outs.  That'd make for an interesting undercurrent story for quite a while - just how will Alan-Michael turn out?

Instead, A-M got saddled with Lucy and after he'd had enough, Hearst quit.  The End.

 

27 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I know this isn't GL related, but we've had a lot of discourse about her...

Jill Farren Phelps is joining Y&R as producer. 

Comments on X pretty much amount to: "Show killer!" 😂

I long for the days when JFP was at GL. GL ended with Peapack, quite a step down. Ugh. 

Wholeheartedly agree about the Daniel St John story.  If there was a dud of a story during the early 1990s, that was it.  I did like the dead woman's sister quite a lot (Jean Wetherill).  Both the actress and the character were loose cannons.  Holly and St John were a mismatch and Samantha was a pesky gnat.

The Chelsea stalker story was okay.  I liked the actress who portrayed Dana.  A shame she was bumped off.  They should have kept her and kept her with Frank for a while.

Kim Simms was ahead of where Mindy was early on; Mindy "caught up" with Simms as time went by.  Mindy grew a lot more than Simms did, which is reasonably fascinating.  Simms comes across as a class act in real life.  No ego, no b.s.  Well mannered.  Generous.

Joe Breen was excellent as Will.  Really liked him.  I get the impression that he was not original signed as a longish-term contract player, but I could be wrong.  I didn't watch when he came aboard.

I regret not ever watching the period when Maureen Garrett rejoined the show in 1988.  I should have.  Now, I can't.  

 

 

When Holly and Ed started an affair, I about fell off the couch!  Maureen never really got over that, and threw it back in Ed’s face when he cheated with Lillian. 
 

Holly’s presence at the Bauers after the funeral was odd, at least to me, because she’d been an affair also. Why was only Lillian persona non grata?  And why didn’t Holly and Lillian bond over this?

 

And damn!  Vanessa didn’t forgive Lillian until the show ended!

1 hour ago, Speed Racer said:

Wholeheartedly agree about the Daniel St John story.  If there was a dud of a story during the early 1990s, that was it.  I did like the dead woman's sister quite a lot (Jean Wetherill).  Both the actress and the character were loose cannons.  Holly and St John were a mismatch and Samantha was a pesky gnat.

The Chelsea stalker story was okay.  I liked the actress who portrayed Dana.  A shame she was bumped off.  They should have kept her and kept her with Frank for a while.

Kim Simms was ahead of where Mindy was early on; Mindy "caught up" with Simms as time went by.  Mindy grew a lot more than Simms did, which is reasonably fascinating.  Simms comes across as a class act in real life.  No ego, no b.s.  Well mannered.  Generous.

Joe Breen was excellent as Will.  Really liked him.  I get the impression that he was not original signed as a longish-term contract player, but I could be wrong.  I didn't watch when he came aboard.

I regret not ever watching the period when Maureen Garrett rejoined the show in 1988.  I should have.  Now, I can't.  

 

 

I didn't get the need to pair Samantha up with Daniel St John in the first place.  She really ended up causing people to die because of her stupid crush. Then the waste of time character of Suzanne Devereux. Fell off the face of the earth after Daniel was killed. Mark Derwin said the actor playing Daniel wasn't liked and he and Michael Zaslow fought over who could kill him off (LOL). 

As for Will, it was an accidental death with Rose. Rusty using Mindy rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't see Will with the other Mindy before Simms.  Anyone know how they were like?

I would have liked to see more of Josh involved with the Will storyline.  Josh was so wasted to me.  Josh came off having too bad of a temper and went off the handle too much, but didn't here.

I wish Kimberly never got involved with Vincent in real life.  That always messes things up when it doesn't work out and fans get WAY too attached to the character's relationship working out. 

@Speed Racer  You can watch it with the Archive and the German dubbed Springfield Story YouTube channel.  

Edited August 4Aug 4 by MLH

7 hours ago, DeeVee said:

Which begs the question, why didn't they bring back Alan sooner? (And hopefully, with a better actor than RR).

A) because they had Roger and B ) because Phillip wasn't onscreen. Alan's life always revolved around Phillip. 

10 hours ago, Mitch64 said:

Hart thought it was the stalker outside and ran out, knocking the door into Dinah. But here is the thing with the dumbed down GL...the door opened OUT instead of in (it wasn't the screen door, it was the door to the house!) 

And it was probably the only day it ever opened out. SMH. Poor writing. He couldn't have just tackled her in the dark?

7 hours ago, Speed Racer said:

Thank you, MLH.  Appreciate that.  I'm gonna disagree with you on Hart; I liked him.  As someone here said, Hart could've been killed off once Phillips left.

A-M is a trickier proposition no matter which way you look at it.  Yes, Alan-Michael's persona changed between Evans and Hearst, but imo it's not unreasonable given the circumstances.  You have A-M getting played by Blake and somewhat by Harley in the divorce.  Meanwhile, no one on the Bauer side is looking out for him.  Maureen and Ed are not Mom and Dad, so it makes sense that A-M would not spend a lot of time at the Bauer's.  Not many people spend a great deal of time with their aunts and uncles. 

It was A-M's more or less rudderless status at both the Bauers and Spauldings that prompted me to think of having Ed marry Amanda.  With a half-sister at the Bauer's and Alan returning to Spaulding, A-M might surprisingly find himself in familial demand rather always be left on the outs.  That'd make for an interesting undercurrent story for quite a while - just how will Alan-Michael turn out?

Instead, A-M got saddled with Lucy and after he'd had enough, Hearst quit.  The End.

 

Alan-Michael always seemed to have to fight harder to secure his position at Spaulding. Phillip was always the darling. Even though he was jealous of Lujack, that was about Beth, not worrying about Lujack coming into the company. Even when A-M would prove himself (helping nail Roger for embezzlement) he'd wind up losing ground (losing the Presidency to Vanessa). And when Nick shows up, Alex is ready to hand him the keys to the kingdom, even though Nick's not interested in the business. There's a fabulous scene just before Bev leaves where A-M accuses her of pitting people against each other, reenacting what Brandon did to her and Alan.

42 minutes ago, P.J. said:

And it was probably the only day it ever opened out. SMH. Poor writing. He couldn't have just tackled her in the dark?

Glad I didn't watch this stupidity.  LOL

This small dinner party Alexandra did for Phillip/Beth, Alan Michael and Roger was hilarious!  The fight between Harley and Alan Michael with the bra (Blake's) she found in his robe cracks me up!   

Roger always had a soft spot for Harley. I am guessing due to feeling guilt for the guy he hired causing the fire. 

 

Edited August 5Aug 5 by MLH

6 hours ago, anthonymolchan said:

And damn!  Vanessa didn’t forgive Lillian until the show ended!

I know there's a scene with Van and Lillian at the end where they both say they miss Maureen. But other than some words at Maureen's wake, Vanessa never held the affair against either Ed or Lillian that I can recall. Van and Lillian had never been chummy. 

And I still hate that Buzz and Lillian horned in on Billy and Van's wedding.

30 minutes ago, P.J. said:

A) because they had Roger and B ) because Phillip wasn't onscreen. Alan's life always revolved around Phillip.

I believe Roger, involved with Alex, is a huge reason why they should have brought back Alan way sooner. And I think it would have been a GOOD thing if Alan wasn't always so focused on Phillip for a change.

17 minutes ago, P.J. said:

Alan-Michael always seemed to have to fight harder to secure his position at Spaulding. Phillip was always the darling.

Which is another reason AM should not have been stuck in the Spaulding musical chairs game about who would run the company. It's tedious. As discussed earlier, he could have become a lawyer. Perhaps mentored by Mike, and could have even taken Mike's place as Spaulding nemesis, getting back at the father who valued his biological son less than his adopted son.

16 minutes ago, P.J. said:

But other than some words at Maureen's wake, Vanessa never held the affair against either Ed or Lillian that I can recall.

Considering she had an affair with Ed while he was still married, that would have been just a tad hypocritical. (Yes, Ed and Rita were pretty much done, but Vanessa did tend to flirt with lots of men regardless of marital status, so...)

Which reminds me. I've been watching the German episodes that include her affair with Ed. Did Ed and Van EVER recall or refer to their former relationship after that? It seems to me they totally memory holed it after it ended.

(I still don't quite get why they were ever paired up in the first place. Can't imagine why Van was so keen to catch him).

26 minutes ago, DeeVee said:

I believe Roger, involved with Alex, is a huge reason why they should have brought back Alan way sooner. And I think it would have been a GOOD thing if Alan wasn't always so focused on Phillip for a change.

Which is another reason AM should not have been stuck in the Spaulding musical chairs game about who would run the company. It's tedious. As discussed earlier, he could have become a lawyer. Perhaps mentored by Mike, and could have even taken Mike's place as Spaulding nemesis, getting back at the father who valued his biological son less than his adopted son.

Considering she had an affair with Ed while he was still married, that would have been just a tad hypocritical. (Yes, Ed and Rita were pretty much done, but Vanessa did tend to flirt with lots of men regardless of marital status, so...)

Which reminds me. I've been watching the German episodes that include her affair with Ed. Did Ed and Van EVER recall or refer to their former relationship after that? It seems to me they totally memory holed it after it ended.

(I still don't quite get why they were ever paired up in the first place. Can't imagine why Van was so keen to catch him).

I swear, by the 90s (after his divorce from Alexandra), Roger was the only one that stayed faithful!  LOL

I can't believe Vanessa and Ed had an affair!  Why would Maureen want to be friends with Vanessa?

 

Edited August 5Aug 5 by MLH